The sentence by the Seoul Central District Court of Arthur Patterson, 36, from California, was the same that had been earlier requested by prosecutors. Patterson has one week to appeal, according to court spokesman Joon Young Maeng.

Patterson was extradited to Seoul in September, 16 years after he fled to the U.S.

Patterson's American friend, Edward Lee, who was with him at the time of the murder, was initially sentenced to life in prison for killing 22-year-old student Cho Choong-pil. But Lee was later acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Patterson had originally received an 18-month term for destroying evidence and possessing a dangerous weapon. Patterson was the owner of the knife used in the killing, and he threw it down a drain afterward, according to South Korean media reports. He was later freed in a special amnesty and fled South Korea in 1999 while authorities launched a new investigation, according to South Korea's Justice Ministry.

Patterson and Lee, both teenagers at the time, accused each other of killing Cho, who was found with multiple stab wounds in the Burger King bathroom and died on the way to a hospital. Cho was a stranger to both Americans.

Patterson was in South Korea at the time of the killing because his father was a civilian employee working for the U.S. military.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from North Korea. Crimes involving U.S. military personnel are a long-running source of anti-American sentiments among many South Koreans. The restaurant where Cho was killed was located in Itaewon, a popular shopping and entertainment district near the U.S. military headquarters in Seoul.

Advertisements

Latest Canada & World News

SAN FRANCISCO -- The illegally occupied Oakland warehouse where dozens of partygoers perished in a blaze does not appear in a database fire inspectors use to schedule inspections and may never have been checked for fire hazards, a firefighter with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
Source

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of -- Large crowds are expected to gather in South Korea's capital to celebrate the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over an explosive corruption scandal that saw millions protest in previous weeks.
Source

WASHINGTON -- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani formally withdrew from consideration for a post in President-elect Donald Trump's administration Friday, putting an end to his ill-fated bid to lead the State Department. Trump is now seriously considering Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for the post.
Source

Kevin O'Leary is expected to announce his intentions on his bid for the federal Conservative leadership on Monday, sources confirm.
The 62-year-old businessman-turned-reality-star is expected to tell Conservative members of parliament during a meeting he's hosting over the lunch hour.
Source

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman assaulted as a girl during a 1982 sexual attack that killed her mother says she was coerced into identifying the wrong man as the assailant and is asking Missouri’s governor to free that person who has spent 34 years in prison for the crimes.
Source

MONTREAL -- The Bay store in downtown Montreal was fined $765,000 for illegally releasing pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said Friday. But Nathalie Houle of the federal government's public prosecution office was unable to confirm a Montreal La Presse report the fine was imposed after roughly 146 kilograms of PCBs from old transformers on the building's roof leaked into a drain and into the river.
Source

WASHINGTON -- Corporate registrations in Delaware show that President-elect Donald Trump shut down some of his companies in the days after the election, including four companies that appeared connected to a possible Saudi Arabia business venture.
Source

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A refrigerator was ruled out as the cause of a fire at a warehouse in Oakland that killed 36 people, but investigators were still looking at electrical systems as possible ignition sources, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Friday.
Source

Police in Florida say a man shot his ex-wife four times during an argument at an Orlando karaoke bar early Friday morning.
Tu Quoc Ho, 43, was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, tampering with evidence and domestic violence battery, Orlando News 6 reports.
Source

Appearing jovial and relaxed, Donald Trump plunged back into election politics Friday, a full month after he won the presidency, enthusiastically prodding Louisiana Republicans to turn out for Saturday's Senate runoff election and protect the party's 52-48 margin in Washington.
Source